A GOOD BOOK (Sunday Morning 3) by Jewel E Ann-review tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 22, 2025

Gabriella Jacobson has one goal for her freshman year of college: Get Matthew Cory to fall in love with her. Lucky for Gabby, her best friend, Ben, is attending the same college on a music scholarship. He is the perfect resource—girls love him, and he’s more experienced with relationships than her, since she’s never had a boyfriend.

When Gabby panics before her first date with Matt, she begs Ben to show her how to kiss. But Ben has a secret, one he’s been keeping from Gabby for years. He’s in love with her.

One kiss turns into two, leaving Gabby confused and scared that their friendship might not survive the unforeseen emotions. She avoids Ben until something unexpected changes his life forever, and he’s forced to drop out of school. Gabby tries to contact him, but he won’t respond. And Matthew Cory, her sister’s ex-boyfriend and handsome law student, is ready to fill the void Ben left behind.

Now that Gabby has the man she thought she wanted, can she forget about the boy who kissed her twice?

••••••

REVIEW: A GOOD BOOK is the third (and final?) instalment in Jewel E Ann’s adult SUNDAY MORNING historical romance series. This is nineteen year olds, college students Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Jacobson, and Benjamin ‘Ben’ Ashford’s story line. A GOOD BOOK can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty but I recommend reading the series in order for back story.

Told from dual first person perspectives ( Gabby and Ben) beginning in 1989, A GOOD BOOK focuses on the break down of a life long friendship in the face of wanting someone else. Gabrielle Jacobson is the youngest daughter of Devil’s Head Pastor Peter and Janet Jacobson, and as such, Church and God are at the forefront of her upbringing and life, but Gabby believes she has fallen in love with her sister’s ex boyfriend Matt Cory, and has followed Matt to the University of Michigan, in the hopes of beginning a romantic relationship. Meanwhile, Gabby’s lifelong best friend Ben Ashford is in his first year at UofM on a music scholarship, and to everyone’s knowledge except Gabby, Ben has been in love with Gabby all of his life but life has decided to throw Gabby and Ben a couple of proverbial curveballs, threatening their future and their friendship, a friendship that will spiral with heartbreak and loss.

The world building focuses on Gabby’s obsession with her sister Sarah’s ex boyfriend Matt. Naïve and innocent to the point of pain, having grown up in an ultra-conservative family, Gabby is completely and wholly unaware of the mechanics of $ex, boy/girl relationships, and everything that follows. Taught to honor God and the church, Gabby is determined to prove she is worthy of someone like Matt but sitting on the sidelines is her best friend Ben, a young man who is about to find himself on the outside looking in.

The relationship between Ben and Gabby is one of best friends to frenemies to lovers. Ben has been in love with Gabby for as long as he can remember but Gabby is oblivious, focusing on a man she cannot have. As Gabby struggles in her ‘love’ for Matt, Ben is about to spiral, pushing everyone he loves out of his life. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

The secondary and supporting characters are charismatic and energetic including the return of Matt Cory and his parents Wesley and Violet Cory, Pastor Peter and Janet Jacobson, Gabby’s fun and quirky sisters Eve and Kyle (The Apple Tree 2), and Sarah and Isaac (Sunday Morning 1), Ben’s parents Carmen and Alan, and his sister Tillie, as well as the introduction of Gabby’s roommate Olivia who is hoping for a relationship with Ben.

A GOOD BOOK is a coming of age story focusing secrets and lies, obsession and friendships, family and love. The character driven premise is heart breaking, thought-provoking and sensitive; the romance is somewhat uneasy and edgy ; the characters are broken but struggling to thrive.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Sunday Morning
The Apple Tree

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Jewel is a free-spirited romance junkie with a quirky sense of humor.

With 10 years of flossing lectures under her belt, she took early retirement from her dental hygiene career to stay home with her three awesome boys and manage the family business.

After her best friend of nearly 30 years suggested a few books from the Contemporary Romance genre, Jewel was hooked. Devouring two and three books a week but still craving more, she decided to practice sustainable reading, AKA writing.

When she’s not donning her cape and saving the planet one tree at a time, she enjoys yoga with friends, good food with family, rock climbing with her kids, watching How I Met Your Mother reruns, and of course…heart-wrenching, tear-jerking, panty-scorching novels.

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